Page 84 of Ivy & Bone

But Cyrus wasn’t listening. His fury took over. His magic had already been freed, and it needed a target.

Now, it had one.

With an almighty roar, Cyrus sent his black flames directly into his brother’s chest. Within him, his magic exploded with triumph, untethered and unrestrained. The rush of power coursing through him was startling and all-consuming. He thought he’d known power before; he thought he’d experienced it all. But the burst of death magic gushing freely showed him just how much he’d been holding back. It flowed and flowed like an endless waterfall, the flames shooting forward until they completely devoured Vasileios’s body. The fire climbed up his shoulders and neck before they smothered his face. Vasileios’s screams echoed around them, but Cyrus pushed onward. More. His magic hungered for more.

Laughter echoed inside him, and he couldn’t tell if it was from his own mouth or from his magic. Deep down, a small part of him registered alarm and panic at the sentience within his magic, that it could laugh, that it could feel triumph and victory . . . But the power had consumed him, too, and he was beyond feeling. Beyond caring.

“Cyrus,” a weak voice rasped.

The tiny sound split through the haze of Cyrus’s vengeful assault like a beam of light spearing through the darkness. He’d been shrouded in death magic, seeing nothing but shadows and fire . . . but that voice had startled him, jerking him free, providing a shard of clarity that he clung to. Somehow, amidst the thunder and Vasileios’s shrieks, amidst the chaos of his own magic, Cyrus heard Prue’s whisper with perfect clarity. He faltered, glancing down to find her sprawled on the ground, one hand covering the wound in her chest. Her entire torso was stained crimson with her blood.

“Cyrus,” she said again, before her eyes closed and her head lolled back onto the concrete.

DESTROY

PRUE

“Prue,” said a voice.

But Prue was so exhausted. All she wanted was to remain in this dark bliss, this cloud of nothingness. She was adrift at sea, a body floating among the waves. No troubles. No pain.

“Prue!” The voice was unrelenting.

Prue felt her eyebrows knit together in annoyance. Goddess, couldn’t she just be left alone? For what felt like the first time in her life, she was blissfully free. And she wanted to remain here forever.

“I’m fading, Prue. He’s killing me.”

The words jolted her. Prue’s eyes snapped open, but all she saw was an empty, black void. “Mona?” She’d been certain it had been her sister.

“I’m here,” said Mona.

“Why can’t I see you?”

“Because I’m . . . almost gone.”

“What?” Prue’s voice was panicked. “Mona, no—you can’t!”

“Vasileios is using my magic. He’s draining me completely. If he keeps this up, I will be erased from existence. You must stop him, Prue.”

“How? How is he using your magic if he isn’t fully bonded to you yet?”

“I told you, a remnant of my magic lingers with my body. That’s what he’s using. If he depletes my body entirely of magic, the separation from my soul will be complete. That magic is the only thing holding these two pieces of myself together. Please, Prue. I need you.”

Panic twisted Prue’s heart. “I—I can’t do anything! I don’t even know where I am!”

“You’re dying. But you have more power than you know.”

Prue’s blood went cold. Dying. No . . .

“You’re the daughter of a goddess, Prue,” Mona went on. “You are unstoppable. Don’t let some pitiful mortal wound be the end of you. You are so much more than that.”

Prue wanted to shake her head, to cry and scream all at once, but she still couldn’t see. She didn’t even know if she had a body right now. She simply . . . existed. “I—I can’t. Mona, our mother—Everything she did—”

“I know.” Mona’s voice was full of regret. “But there will be time to process it. Time to sort through it all. For right now, I need you to dig into that well of power. Find the same strength you used to summon Cyrus. To find me. You can do this, Prue.”

Prue inhaled deeply, her chest rising. With each breath, the dark fog clouding her vision receded, little by little. Mona’s presence drifted away, but not before Prue heard her final words:

“I believe in you.”

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